Giving Compass' Take:

· Writing for TreeHugger, Lloyd Alter reports on a new study from Deloitte predicting the future of electric vehicles and the rise of the e-bikes.

· Why does this study predict e-bikes will overrun cars? What does a switch to electric vehicles mean for the U.S.?

· Here's how a shift to electric vehicles would impact the U.S.

Recently, after calling the teens the decade of the bicycle, I predicted that the Twenties would be the decade of e-mobility.

Now the big consultancy, Deloitte, makes its technology, media and telecommunications predictions for 2020 and calls e-bikes the next big thing.

Deloitte gets why people like e-bikes– they are less work, are easier to get started after a red light or stop sign, and are great for chewing up long distances, hills or when carrying stuff, "or some combination of the above.

They also opens up bicycling to people who otherwise might not do it: the older, and the less fit. "and the effect doesn’t end with out-of-shape able-bodied individuals. Electrification can be a game-changer for the disabled." They suggest that they are real competition for cars.

Read the full article about e-bikes by Lloyd Alter at TreeHugger.